SuperMensch

The Man of Steel has always been Jewish, and in his newest film, Superman returns to his roots

Way back in the 1930s, teen science fiction buffs Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster became known for creating a legend.

You may have heard this story:

It took place in their 25th century. Faced with a world-shaking catastrophe, a parent placed a baby boy in a small craft, hoping he'll be propelled to somewhere safe. The boy was found and adopted and grew up incognito, eventually revealed in adulthood as a world-saving hero. But he still had his alien heritage to explore.

2448 was the Jewish year. The small craft was a basket, and the baby was Moses who was found, adopted and grew up incognito, eventually revealed in adulthood as a saving hero. His alien heritage: the Jewish upbringing that was denied to him.

While Siegel and Shuster were -- by any measure -- original thinkers, their origin of the last son of Krypton was a science fiction retelling of the rescue of Moses from Pharaoh's infanticide.

Like Moses' mother Yocheved before him, Superman's father, Jor-El, saved his baby son from doom by placing him in a small conveyance (a mini-spaceship) and sending him off to be adopted, to be raised with an assumed identity and become a hero known the world
over.

Superman Returns

In the blockbuster Superman Returns, he really returns. The Man of Tomorrow has a burning need to know about his 'yesterday.' He needs to go back to the place his parents were born to explore who he really is. He needs to know about the destruction that was visited upon his homeland and ancestors.

The Man of Tomorrow has a burning need to know about his 'yesterday.'

His search for self -- like a young Jew who goes off to learn about Israel and his Jewish identity -- is a necessary journey that becomes transformative in its affirmation of who he truly is. While Superman Returns tells us little about what he actually saw in the five years he was away (the film begins with his return), it is made clear that it
was something of such deep significance to him that he felt the need to leave his widowed mother, his newspaper job as Clark Kent, his friends, his entire life, including Lois Lane.

While he's gone, the machinations of Lex Luthor have manifested themselves in an ironic evil. Superman's absence enables Luthor's escape from multiple life sentences in prison and allows the criminal to invade Superman's private haven to hijack stolen Kryptonian technology for his own destructive purposes.

Superman knows better than anyone about the urgency of being vigilant before evil; but his personal discovery -- knowing who he is and where he comes from -- is what enables him to face evil head on and defeat it.

Jewish Connections

Superman is Kal-El of the family that had been known on Krypton as "The House of El," in Hebrew Beit El, which means "The House of God." Over the nearly seven decades since Superman first appeared, there have been numerous Jewish connections from Jewish creators Siegel and Shuster to Jewish director of Superman Returns, Bryan Singer.

The story has been told that 16-year-olds Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster didn't work on their comic strip on Thursday nights. They had nothing to draw on. Mama Shuster needed her challah board.

In addition to the Moses connection, Superman also had a firm basis in the story of Samson. Despite his present panoply of abilities, his original powers were
much more focused on heroism through tremendous strength alone. Long before there was x-ray vision, super-breath, or even flying, the best Superman could do when Superman was first created was jump an eighth of a mile or, as they used to put it, "leap over tall buildings in a single bound." As the stories grew over the years, so did Superman's powers, but his first encounters with criminals -- and with Nazis -- in the 30s and 40s had him behaving more like Samson than the Superman we know today. Mostly land bound, he lifted cars and tanks and shook out the bad guys. Bullets couldn't hurt him, but exploding mortar shells could.

Even Superman's now-familiar red boots were originally more like Samson's footwear. Joe Shuster's original drawings had him wearing sandals laced up to the calf. Reportedly, a colorist tired of all the detail work filled them in with red and turned them into the red
boots now known as part of the Superman costume.

"It wasn't Krypton Superman came from, but the planet Minsk."

In the meantime, Superman was becoming a metaphor for the Jewish American dream. He was from a far away, strange place, but managed to maximize who he was and
who he had become into a synthesis good for himself and for his adopted homeland. Famous cartoonist Jules Feiffer has said: "It wasn't Krypton Superman came
from, but the planet Minsk." And true enough, Clark Kent was his less alien, more assimilated self.

Next Year in Kandor

Like the Jewish people for nearly 2000 years, Superman was in mourning over the destruction of his ancient homeland; and like the Jewish people since the Holocaust, he mourned his entire community, expressing constant devotion to his lost culture, in part because it was his job to carry on as the sole survivor of the planet Krypton.

Or so he thought. In 1956 a landmark comic book story featured a rocket landing outside Metropolis. When Superman investigated, out flew a teenage Supergirl who turned out to be Superman's cousin. A small remnant community of Krypton was not destroyed, but when these survivors faced imminent annihilation, the girl's family packed her off on the first (and only) available rocket to the proverbial "Cousin in America" -- Superman.

In the early 1960s there were comic book stories where Superman and Supergirl would observe what appeared to be peculiar Kryptonian holidays that, despite how they looked to others, were observed stringently by the cousins from Krypton, who recognized themselves as 'Strangers in a strange land.'

Later, it emerged that there was one other city of Krypton that had survived. Years before the planet's explosion, a space criminal named Brainiac used a patented shrink ray on the former capitol city of Kandor. Shrunk to the size of a chess board along with its inhabitants, it was placed inside a bottle suspiciously like those used in water coolers. Years later, Superman liberated Kandor from Brainiac but could not solve the problem of permanently restoring the city and its population to normal size.

But Brainiac wanted that square foot of real estate back. So Superman kept Kandor safe at his fortress of solitude and he and Supergirl would, on occasion, use a temporary shrink ray to enter the bottle city.

This entire situation can be viewed as extremely Jewish. All of a sudden -- like American Jews -- Superman and Supergirl had a small homeland that they felt was dependent on them for its protection from those who held it for a while and wanted to regain it from the original and rightful owners. It was a miraculous, thriving remnant of a once-great culture, and the two could visit ancient archeological sites and the remains of their ancestral homeland, speak their ancestral language, be called by their real (Kryptonian) names, track down distant relatives and friends of their parents and even meet the occasional potential marriage partner of 'a similar background.'

Not unlike a summer program in Israel.

A Kryptonian could renounce his citizenship, hide his spaceship, pretend to be an earthling and never use his powers -- but a chunk of kryptonite could still kill him.

In Superman Returns, the Man of Steel faces his worst demons. He also faces kryptonite, the deadly (only to him) radioactive relics of his home planet. His ancestry on that planet is, of course, also what gives him his special abilities.

Like the Jewish people, perhaps Superman's primary weakness and his primary strength are really the same: where he comes from and how he uses that knowledge

The Talmud connects the word "Sinai" with the Hebrew word "sina" – hatred, teaching that the revelation at Mount Sinai generated hatred of the Jews. Carrying the banner of monotheism and a code of morality to a world that resists or rejects the message, (oftentimes shooting the messenger,) is a dangerous job. The irony: even Jews who don't know or don't care what happened at Sinai can be hated. A Kryptonian could renounce his citizenship, hide his spaceship, pretend to be an earthling and never use his powers -- but a chunk of kryptonite could still kill him. It's his choice, with or without kryptonite, whether or not to take advantage of the good that comes with the territory.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 32

(32)
Anonymous,
January 4, 2011 5:32 PM

True Identity

This is a good depiction of those who are in search of their identity. Upon finding their true identity, then we are left with the choice of returning to our roots and choosing to fly.

(31)
R. Keith Rugg,
July 19, 2006 12:00 AM

Thanks for the insight

Although I'm a through-and-through fanboy, I was determined not to see the new film because of the Christian imagery pushed so hard in the trailer. But I might give it a look now, with your article's points in mind.

(30)
PianoMan,
July 10, 2006 12:00 AM

Why not both?

The poster below is right, there is plenty of Christian imagery in the film. On the other hand, there is also a good deal of Jewishness.

(29)
Judith K. Bogdanove,
July 10, 2006 12:00 AM

A Jewish Connection You Missed in Your Terrific Article

Dear Alan,
My husband, Jon Bogdanove, penciled Superman:The Man of Steel for DC COMICS for eight years. During the run he drew and co-wrote (with Louise Simonson) 3 issues of "What If..." that had Superman intervening in the Holocaust. It stirred up a great deal of controversy, but was pronounced "better than Schindler's List" by the prosecutor of war crimes in the U.S. Justice Department. I'm sure you'll find it interesting reading to add to your collection of Superman/Jewish-Origins material. S:MOS Issues 80, 81 and 82.

Sincerely,
Judith K. Bogdanove

(28)
mamamitzvah,
July 6, 2006 12:00 AM

Great analogy! Reminds me Of R'S Price's SUPERMAN SICHA

BS"D
I always love your article and this one really hit a chord with me. I read an article entititled SMART PEOPLE, FOOLISH CHOICES. This pertains to Jews not ever learning from our own history and the repeating patterns we keep following. Chutz La'Aretz is so similar to pre-1937 Eastern Europe it is frightening. The difference now is that we have Eretz Yisroe-l. Why are we so smart and so stupid?
Rifkie S

(27)
Fiammetta,
July 5, 2006 12:00 AM

Very interesting...

...and it makes even more right what is said about Superman in the movie Kill Bill 2.
(Excuse my poor english, but I'm Italian).

(26)
Steve David,
July 5, 2006 12:00 AM

I Saw The Film

Neither I nor my wife, a second-generation Sabra from Jerusalem, is observant, so you won't see us making any strained Talmudic analogies about why a comic-book character is Jewish. We did actually see the movie, though, and I can tell you categorically that this Superman is no Jew. There are multiple references to the Father and the Son, and in case anyone missed those, at one point Superman assumes the position of the crucified Jesus. Also, Superman is never observed saying any brachot or putting on tefillin, so there is no evidence to support the fantasy that Superman's a Jew.

(25)
Karen,
July 5, 2006 12:00 AM

Great article!

That was not only informative but hugely entertaining! My children enjoyed it also:-)

(24)
Anonymous,
July 5, 2006 12:00 AM

Not a mench in Superman Returns

Unfortunately, Superman is not at all a mench in Superman returns. Not only does he leave Lois for 5 years without even checking to see that he impregnated her, he comes back and spies on her etc. Another problem is he didn't secure his Kryptonian technology from being stolen and corrupted. Saving the plane (which was in trouble because of the technology he let Luthor steal) and Metropolis and hurling the new continent into space, Superman was just cleaning up the mess he helped Luthor create. He doesn't even acknowledge his negligence or seem to feel one pang of guilt over this. The worse sin the moviemakers indicate he made was leaving Earth without saying good-bye to Lois. Oy vey.

(23)
J Jordan,
July 4, 2006 12:00 AM

Jewish/Christian/Jewish

Perhaps we don't have to look to fictionalized and scandalous libelizations, such as the DaVinci Code, in order to explore the abandonment of Lois Lane and a child by Superman.

If we study Parsha Korach, we find Miriam criticizing Moses for his separation from the Kushite woman. Perhaps there is, at times, an excusable reason for such otherwise inexcusable behavior, as one's vision of one's own destiny becomes crystalized toward a closer union with the almighty.

(22)
zeny,
July 3, 2006 12:00 AM

a supermensch. Hmm. interesting. to look at it thru jewish eyes.

Going back to the hebraic roots of my faith has been rewarding. And viewing Superman thru jewish eyes is extra interesting.

(21)
Terez Juarez,
July 3, 2006 12:00 AM

I knew nothing about Superman; now I know something!

Very interesting; perhaps I will look further into the Superman legend

(20)
Anonymous,
July 3, 2006 12:00 AM

Jewish/Christian

Well, the Christians are at it again. They took our Bible and twisted its meaning. They were stuck with Jesus being a Jew. Now they are twisting the Jewish Superman into a Jesus figure.
I am even more saddened to hear that they have also made him immoral. I suppose that Lois and her child are like Mary Magdalene and her unborn super child, as per the Da Vinci code, and so when Superman leaves again, it is like Jesus going up into Heaven (and abandoning Mary Magdalene and his unborn child). But at least Jesus is said to have married the Magdalene; Superman does not marry Lois before he goes back to Krypton. Tsk tsk, moviemakers! Nonetheless I will see the movie. I will refuse to take my teenaged nephew to it, but if his father insists on taking him, we will have to talk with the lad first to remind him that this is UNheroic behavior which a decent Jewish man avoids.

(19)
Dena,
July 3, 2006 12:00 AM

never thought of Superman like that!

I am in shock, never thought of any Jewish connection to Superman, not that I was a fan of Superman anyway, but it does generate pride.

(18)
Debi Grant,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

I love Superman to be moral hero as well

Survival of humanity and the earth requires morality to be taught. Children and adults learn from stories.

What good does it do to save from wickedness in order to promote wickedness that kills, steals, and destroys?

(17)
Mark Newman,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

Superman is Not a SuperHero in "Superman Returns"

I know this article is written about Superman having Jewish connections and I admire Alan Oirich very much (I and my son personally met him and he signed my son's Jewish Hero Corps comic book). However, I saw Superman Returns on the first full day it came out and, as a Jew, I found the movie most profoundly disturbing. I have thousands of superhero comic books and have collected them for over three decades so I truly love the genre. However, what are we to think of a Superman who, at the end of the second Christopher Reeve superman movie, which is the "prequel" to Superman Returns, has pre-marital relations with Lois Lane and doesn't even marry her? In Superman Returns, what are we to think of our "hero" who leaves Lois Lane without even saying goodbye? What are we to think of a Lois Lane who is engaged to a man but is "living" with him for years before they might ever become married? What are we to think of a Lois Lane who has a five to six year old child and believes the father is her fiance who she still hasn't married? [Have a child and still not get married?] What are we to think of a Superman and Lois Lane when both recognize the child is in fact Superman's and yet all he does is fly away at the end of the movie? [Hasn't our "hero" heard of parental responsibilities?]

Remember that this is a comic book superhero movie aimed primarily at kids, teenagers and people in their early twenties. No matter how contemporary or "relevant" you might want to argue, all of this deviant, destructive social behavior has no place in a "super"hero story. Even more than the comic books, a movie leaves a powerful and lasting visual and subliminal impression on all people, especially younger people. I don't know about you but I want my superheros (and to a lesser extent, supporting cast members like Lois Lane) to be Super in both their internal private lives as well as in their external public lives. That's a major Jewish value and that's the way Superman always was written in the comic books from 1938 to at least 1998 (I haven't really followed him closely after that). Superman Returns strongly violates that rule and is one reason why I will not take my boy, who has read scores of Superman comic books, to see this movie.

(16)
JOAN SULLIVAN,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

WONDERFUL

MY grandson insisted on a mural of Superman flying on his bedroom wall! Boy do I have a story to tell this 5 year-old. Nice to know the spirit of prophecy is not dead on EARTH

(15)
Bracha fox,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

The supper man

I thought that this was really cool abd I saw the first movie of it.

(14)
Steven Frankel,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

Christian imagery hard to not notice in Superman Returns

While I see and appreciate some of the points made by the author, I do not see how you can miss the obvious Christian imagery throughout this movie.

(1) Superman Returns - who else supposedly returned?
(2) How many times was the word 'savior' mentioned?
(3) How about the "father becomes the son, son becomes the father" (I may have the exact words wrong here).
(4) How about falling back to Earth with arms spread wide as a cross?

Maybe I am reading too much into this?

Anyone else see this?

By the way, my wife and I both enjoyed the movie . . .

(13)
Rhonda Smtih,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

Agreement with Mark Newman

I am so glad to see others who are totally upset with Hollywood and their unwillingness to pass on family values to our children. I
too was upset that Superman did not marry Lois Lane, that Lois Lane was not married and lived with a man and that Superman did not insist on taking up the role of fatherhood to his out-of wedlock son. If this is the truth, justice ( and the American way) that Superman stands for, responsible parents should be forewarned that Superman is no longer a Superhero.

(12)
Brachie Estreicher,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

wow

Very very good, though not suprising. When I watched Superman Returns oneof the preveiws ahead of the feature was for a movie called the story of the Nativity and i was contemplating judiasm when the names of Jerry Seigel and Joe Schuster appeared on the screen. Proud of the Jews! and to those who thought The Thing was the only one...there is always Magneto from X-Men.

(11)
Liebe Feigeh,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

Old Kryptonians weep alone

Your excellent article is a welcome revelation. One statement deserves comment: "...like a young Jew who goes off....." produces a pang of sadness. Thousands of older Jews have discovered their Jewishness not in their "Birthright" 20's or even 30's, not in their still-fertile 40's, but as late in life as 50 and over. As a woman in the latter category I find most doors to fulltime Jewish learning to be firmly shut, as the places are needed for the future parents of the generation. This I understand fully. And I do appreciate the community resources that we have for adult education....but that is not enough for some of us who thirst for Torah "lishmah." Hashem has wakened the spark within us "oldsters" for a reason, and it seems to me that our Jewish places of learning should recognize our needs. In addition, thousands of older Yiddishe neshamas are wandering around with half a soul. They are highly unlikely to find the other half on J-Date. I think a set of services directed toward the older Baal Tshuva is desperately needed.

(10)
Anonymous,
July 2, 2006 12:00 AM

The article on Superman is excellent !

(9)
Chaim,
June 30, 2006 12:00 AM

C'mon guys...

You know its kind of a stretch, yes there are obvious connections but this is so old, we were saying this shtick in yeshiva YEARS ago. So Superman is jewish, now what? Everything in hollywood is Jewish! Check out the movie Only Human that is a perfect flick to talk about...

(8)
Russell,
June 30, 2006 12:00 AM

The Thing

The Thing (from the Fantastic Four) is the only comic book character that I know of that is Jewish according to the storyline.

(7)
Anonymous,
June 29, 2006 12:00 AM

I loved it!

I am sending this to everyone I know - especially those with children.

(6)
Joe,
June 29, 2006 12:00 AM

Stan Lee and Bob Kane are Jewish too

Stan Lee (Marvel Comics, Spidey, Hulk X-men etc) and Bob Kane (Batman) are also Jewish. Will Eisner, considered the dean of the graphic novel, is also a tribe member.

It is absolutely true that the super-heros can't help to reflect their very Jewish roots. On a simple level, a non-Jewish super hero, would never have a secret identity. Everyone knew who Hercules was for instance. A Jewish hero isn't in it for himself.
Wealth and Fame he's ignored...

These young Jewish men coming up in New York in the thirties saw the American dream. Here they could be *anything*. Here, a Jew need not live in fear. Here, you could punch the bully in the nose.

They wrote stories about extraordinary people who had buried within them the power to save the world. They dreamed of a world in which all things were possible and all wrongs could be righted.

What is more Jewish then standing against the world to save it, and yet prevailing? Doing it just to serve would be. That's the whole point.

It's interesting that people are finally noticing that the comics were, and are, a family business.

(5)
Stephanie,
June 29, 2006 12:00 AM

Powerful!

What a clever combination of lighthearted topic with deep significance to Jews everywhere.

(4)
Daniela,
June 29, 2006 12:00 AM

WOW !

This was a COOL article ! Thank you !! :)

(3)
Debbie Botnick,
June 29, 2006 12:00 AM

incredible analogies! well written and insightful article - thank you!

(2)
Adam,
June 29, 2006 12:00 AM

Insightful... yasher-koach!

After reading at least two articles linking Superman to Jesus and Christianity (Jor-El sending his "only son" to Earth to save them, Superman being tortured by Lex as Lois looks on), this article comes as a breath of fresh air, illustrating how Superman, whose very creators were Jewish, was and continues to actually have JEWISH, and not specifically Christian, overtones.

(1)
Laya,
June 29, 2006 12:00 AM

I love this!

That's all, just LOVE it. I'll be talking about this one. Thanks Alan Oirich for a great article, one that my kids will get and one that I can share with others.

My nephew is having his bar mitzvah and I am thinking of a gift. In the old days, the gift of choice was a fountain pen, then a Walkman, and today an iPod. But I want to get him something special. What do you suggest?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Since this event celebrates the young person becoming obligated in the commandments, the most appropriate gift is, naturally, one that gives a deeper understanding of the Jewish heritage and enables one to better perform the mitzvot! (An iPod, s/he can get anytime.)

With that in mind, my favorite gift idea is a tzedakah (charity) box. Every Jew should have a tzedakah box in his home, so he can drop in change on a regular basis. The money can then be given to support a Jewish school or institution -- in your home town or in Israel (every Jews’ “home town”). There are beautiful tzedakah boxes made of wood and silver, and you can see a selection here.

For boys, a really beautiful gift is a pair of tefillin, the black leather boxes which contain parchments of Torah verses, worn on the bicep and the head. Owning a pair of Tefillin (and wearing them!) is an important part of Jewish identity. But since they are expensive (about $400), not every Bar Mitzvah boy has a pair. To make sure you get kosher Tefillin, see here.

In 1944, the Nazis perpetrated the Children's Action in the Kovno Ghetto. That day and the next, German soldiers conducted house-to-house searches to round up all children under age 12 (and adults over 55) -- and sent them to their deaths at Fort IX. Eventually, the Germans blew up every house with grenades and dynamite, on suspicion that Jews might be in hiding in underground bunkers. They then poured gasoline over much of the former ghetto and incinerated it. Of the 37,000 Jews in Kovno before the Holocaust, less than 10 percent survived. One of the survivors was Rabbi Ephraim Oshri, who later published a stirring collection of rabbinical responsa, detailing his life-and-death decisions during the Holocaust. Also on this date, in 1937, American Jews held a massive anti-Nazi rally in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

In a letter to someone who found it difficult to study Torah, the 20th century sage the Chazon Ish wrote:

"Some people find it hard to be diligent in their Torah studies. But the difficulty persists only for a short while - if the person sincerely resolves to submerge himself in his studies. Very quickly the feelings of difficulty will go away and he will find that there is no worldly pleasure that can compare with the pleasure of studying Torah diligently."

Although actions generally have much greater impact than thoughts, thoughts may have a more serious effect in several areas.

The distance that our hands can reach is quite limited. The ears can hear from a much greater distance, and the reach of the eye is much farther yet. Thought, however, is virtually limitless in its reach. We can think of objects millions of light years away, and so we have a much greater selection of improper thoughts than of improper actions.

Thought also lacks the restraints that can deter actions. One may refrain from an improper act for fear of punishment or because of social disapproval, but the privacy of thought places it beyond these restraints.

Furthermore, thoughts create attitudes and mindsets. An improper action creates a certain amount of damage, but an improper mindset can create a multitude of improper actions. Finally, an improper mindset can numb our conscience and render us less sensitive to the effects of our actions. We therefore do not feel the guilt that would otherwise come from doing an improper act.

We may not be able to avoid the occurrence of improper impulses, but we should promptly reject them and not permit them to dwell in our mind.

Today I shall...

make special effort to avoid harboring improper thoughts.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...